


and I saw scars

by Anonymous



Series: astralis [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Both of them, Coda, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Growing Old Together, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Married Couple, Saps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23733628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It was a sort of golden haze; the blue, blue sky, almost the same colour as Obi-Wan’s eyes but so different at the same time. Then, swirling above his head, shifting and rustling, the golden-tinted verdure crown of the oak itself. If he reached out, he could place his palm flat on the twisted umber of the trunk, feeling its rough grooves under his fingertips. Then, with his other hand, he could twine his fingers, almost like branches, around Obi-Wan’s wrist. Obi-Wan had looked up from hisComplete Works of Platoand smiled, bright like the sun over their heads, tangling their fingers together. Cody had proceeded to yank him down, crawling on top of him and kissing him until they were both breathless, laughing like they were twenty and carefree again. After that, Obi-Wan had abandoned his ancient philosophy and curled up into Cody’s side, beard tickling his neck, eyes closed.---A coda; a happy ending.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: astralis [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696378
Comments: 8
Kudos: 116
Collections: Anonymous





	and I saw scars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [revanchxst (BadWolfGirl01)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/gifts).



> Everything gets better, eventually. It may be a long road to happiness, riddled with scars and tears and obstacles, but with the help of the people you love and who love you back, you will get there.
> 
> Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine.
> 
> PLEASE NOTE: ALTHOUGH THIS TECHNICALLY MAKES SENSE AS A STANDALONE, IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU READ THE FIRST WORK IN THE SERIES. THANKS :)

> “ _I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman within me._ ”
> 
> \- Dylan Thomas

“Ah, the good old English weather,” Obi-Wan says morosely from where he’s perched on the windowsill. 

Beyond the slightly slanted panes, edged with warped but freshly painted iron, it’s absolutely _bucketing._ Cody can barely see their car, which is parked only a few metres away. It was a collective effort from both of them, all those years ago - a couple of months before their marriage; a humble but sturdy second-hand Toyota carina, freshly re-painted blue. It smelled somewhat fusty and the engine sometimes made weird sounds, but Anakin had come over to check it and pronounced it in good condition. After that, Obi-Wan had decided that it was appropriate to hang his little trinkets, including, thankfully, a little bottle of air freshener, from the mirror. The ornaments included the weird bauble he’d bought from the Christmas market in Berlin, a tiny Eiffel tower, and a hanging cactus from _Flying Tiger_. He also placed one of those solar-powered dancing flowers on the dashboard and named it Brian, apparently after Monty Python. That resulted in the cactus being named Biggus Dickus due to its more or less phallic shape and the Eiffel tower was christened Reg. 

Obi-Wan also dug up some bumper stickers - he thinks from IKEA, which is odd now that he thinks about it, because every time they went there he’s pretty sure there weren’t any. Maybe from B&Q or something. His memory isn’t what it once was, though.

Cody gets up from his chair and walks over, taking off his reading glasses as he does so. They’d been sitting in a comfortable silence for the past hour or so after they’d gotten back from their walk. Arthur, now very old and scruffy but still a heat magnet, is curled up in front of the oven, which is on - Obi-Wan, in a fit of passion, had decided to make shortbread. 

“Wonderful.” Cody can’t quite keep the dryness out of his voice and Obi-Wan snorts. Cody smiles at him and places a hand on his shoulder, rubbing at the still-tense muscles there. Obi-Wan places his own hand on top of Cody’s, squeezing gently, thumb brushing over the tendons in his wrist.

“Indeed.” Obi-Wan sighs and leans into him, “Good thing we went out early.”

“If you’d sat at the desk any longer, your joints would’ve gotten creaky, old man.” Cody teases, “They’re creaky enough as it is.”

“My joints are just fine, Cody Fett-Kenobi,” Obi-Wan sniffs, “I’m only fifty-three. Lots of time left for creaky joints to appear.”

Cody briefly remembers that one night nearly twenty years ago, when he thought that they didn’t have any more time. When the universe ended, briefly.

And yet, here they are.

“Your joints may not be as creaky as they could be but you’re an old man at heart,” Cody tells him fondly, “Obi-Wan _Fett-Kenobi._ ”

“You just like saying it.”

“I’ve been saying it for the past two decades. Besides, you’re just as sappy as I am.”

“Cody Fett-Kenobi, did you just admit to _sappiness_?” Obi-Wan gasps in pretend shock, a hand over his heart, but his eyes twinkle with the same old mischief, “Let me check, are there any flying pigs out there, on the horizon?”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to see them, darling.”

Obi-Wan fixes his glasses primly, pushing them up his nose - oh the little shit, he used his middle finger.

“Was that a jab at my sight?” He snipes.

“No, as in there’s a storm and you literally can’t fucking see.”

“Language,” Obi-Wan tells him automatically, “Wait, no, that does not apply to you, you’re not a teenager. Damn it.”

“Still in the teacher mindset?”

“Year eleven mocks are the worst,” Obi-Wan groans, “There are so many ways to interpret Shakespeare, but there are also lots of ways to present it. Not all of those are _acceptable_ and _easy to read and mark_ or even _understand_ -”

Cody hums encouragingly as Obi-Wan rants about his students, continuing to rub lazy circles into his shoulder. It’s been a little over a year since Cody called it quits with the City of London Police and they moved here, to a small town in the countryside, surrounded by a vast area of open meadows and a few old ruins, run-down buildings, the like. Cody got the job as head of police for the entire local area - mostly dealing with sheep rustling and other thefts - and Obi-Wan as an English teacher in the school there. They got a cottage at the edge of the town, the windows of which overlooked a gently sloping hill with a lone, ancient oak tree at the top of it. 

Obi-Wan spent all of their first summer here tucked into the small hollow in its huge trunk. He’d lugged a stack of books there and spent about ninety percent of his time reading, completely forgetting to eat or drink as he devoured words instead, occasionally pausing to vent at Cody, who was due to start his work in September and was on forced leave, which he chose to spend sprawled out, half-asleep, next to Obi-Wan.

It was a sort of golden haze; the blue, blue sky, almost the same colour as Obi-Wan’s eyes but so different at the same time. Then, swirling above his head, shifting and rustling, the golden-tinted verdure crown of the oak itself. If he reached out, he could place his palm flat on the twisted umber of the trunk, feeling its rough grooves under his fingertips. Then, with his other hand, he could twine his fingers, almost like branches, around Obi-Wan’s wrist. Obi-Wan had looked up from his _Complete Works of Plato_ and smiled, bright like the sun over their heads, tangling their fingers together. Cody had proceeded to yank him down, crawling on top of him and kissing him until they were both breathless, laughing like they were twenty and carefree again. After that, Obi-Wan had abandoned his ancient philosophy and curled up into Cody’s side, beard tickling his neck, eyes closed. 

Now, a little over a year later, it's February half-term and Obi-Wan has a pile of GCSE mocks to work through; Cody has his paperwork. But it's not that pressing, so they take frequent breaks away from work to go for long walks across the fields, hand in hand, grinning at the sheep and staring at the place where the sky seems to meet earth; the edge of the world, almost. They've explored the picturesque old ruins, too. Crumbling towers of flint and powdery mortar, ancient symbols carved into cracked walls, broken fingers of stone reaching for the endless sky. 

Cody was, and is, happy. But now he feels true contentment. 

"It's really beginning to storm," Obi-Wan says wonderingly, "I don't think I've seen anything like this since when I was a kid."

"Scotland's a bit heavier on the rain than Wales, right?"

Obi-Wan shrugs distractedly, his right hand coming up to press flat against the windowpane. He looks like an excited kid, eyes wide. The sound of the rain intensifies into loud hammering and then his face is being lit up by a distant flash of lightning.

"Come on," Obi-Wan yells suddenly, over the noise of the rain and the heavy boom of thunder, "Let's go outside!"

"Are you crazy?" Cody watches as Obi-Wan slides off the windowsill and all but races to find his shoes, "You'll catch a cold!"

"So?" 

"Just don't complain too much when you end up spending three weeks in bed with a fever."

Obi-Wan grins at him over his shoulder, bending down to pull his boots on. Cody tries not to stare too much.

"Come on then," the older man stomps over, squeaking loud enough to be heard over the din of the rain.

Cody rolls his eyes but lets himself be dragged over to the door. He barely gets thirty seconds to shove his feet into his shoes before Obi-Wan is tugging him outside, into the heavy rain.

It's almost like bullets, it's coming down so hard; it's also _freezing_ and Cody immediately regrets allowing Obi-Wan to get what he wants. He watches his husband twirl, arms out, then stumble right into a massive puddle. He's laughing, the crow's feet in the corners of his eyes crinkling as he grabs at Cody and drags him further out. 

Somehow, Cody finds himself laughing too, an arm slung around Obi-Wan. They look up at the sky, staggering, clutching at each other for balance. The clouds roil over their heads, purple and black and grey.

"That one could almost be a castle!" Obi-Wan points at a particularly majestic spire of cumulus, "Look, there's a turret!"

"If that's the castle then that's the dragon." 

"No, that's not a _dragon,_ how is that _anything_ like a dragon, Cody."

Drawing him in tighter, Cody tucks Obi-Wan into his side and presses his nose into sopping wet hair, dark from the rain. Obi-Wan grins up at him, rivulets of water running down his face, droplets beading on his eyelashes.

Cody kisses him. Obi-Wan promptly wraps his arms around Cody’s neck, pressing closer - and then shoves his ice-cold hands down Cody’s collar.

He _does not_ yelp.

Absolutely not.

Obi-Wan breaks away, laughing so hard he doubles over, clutching at his stomach. Cody glares at him, spluttering in the rain.

“Bastard!” he yells.

Obi-Wan just smiles that smile of his.

By the time they go back inside, they’re completely soaked through and dripping.

"Strip." Cody tells Obi-Wan, as he pulls off his own clothes. They hit the floor with a wet _smack_. Obi-Wan is staring, expression a little dazed, at him. "Put the clothes in the washer while I go run a bath."

By the time he’s finished, Obi-Wan is standing next to him, looking rather small and vulnerable, shivering, water beading on his fringe, running down his face. Cody can’t help it, the way his eyes flick over to the precisely disorganised patterns of thin silver scars around his shoulders, the most awkward parts of his legs.

“Come on then.” Cody settles down in the tub, gesturing for Obi-Wan to do the same.

The older man pauses a little, a tiny thing, before swinging a leg over and slotting himself next to Cody, so that they're back-to-chest. Cody wraps his arms around him and tucks his chin into the crook of Obi-Wan’s neck.

“Better?”

Obi-Wan hums in assent, leaning back, stretching his legs out. It’s silent, save for the quiet sloshing of the water, their own steady breaths, the heavy sound of the rain and the distant thunder. Outside the misted window, there’s a flash of lightning. 

Cody huffs as Obi-Wan starts counting quietly under his breath, reaching five before there’s a booming clap of thunder.

“Five kilometres away.” They say, in somewhat shabby unison.

They laugh. Cody lets his hands settle over his husband’s shoulder, a gentle pressure, feeling all the smooth lines under his fingertips, all the little raised freckles and imperfections. Then, he finds the small tattoo, and Obi-Wan lets out a heavy breath.

“My knees hurt.” He shifts a little, making some of the water slop onto the rim of the tub.

“Old man.” Cody teases.

“Hypocrite.”

Cody snorts.

“Well, at least we grew old and wrinkly and gross together.”

“Yeah.” Obi-Wan turns around, gazing straight at him, his eyes still the colour of the ocean, ever-changing, but the sun still shines on them. The angle is a little awkward for him, though, and Cody distinctly hears something crack. “Ow. Together.”

There’s a short pause.

“I think the shortbread is burning.”

They stare at each other for a few more seconds, then burst out laughing. Cody heaves himself out, sliding a little on the tiles as he fetches their bathrobes. They skid down the stairs, leaving wet footprints on the carpet, laughing the whole way despite the sharp smell of burning biscuits.

They’re in this together, after all.

>   
>  _My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me._

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, they really help me keep writing and make my day :)  
> Feel free to drop by on Tumblr [here](https://thedisasternerd.tumblr.com)  
> Y'all stay safe, I love all of you!  
> Quote at the end is also from "Valiant for Truth" by John Bunyan


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